Menu

Slider

The Story I've Waited to Tell

Saturday, August 11, 2012

You see, this is one I have been preparing to write, even though I had no idea how the end would turn out. I have wondered exactly what this blog would look like.

If you've been keeping up with me, you realize that I have been waiting to find the right job, that this season of waiting and wondering what the Lord has is one that has been trying, hard, and truly a test of my faith. I have learned so much in the last 2 months and I will share more, but before I tell all of the story, I wanted some help.

I couldn't write this without asking my Mom to tell part of the story.

She's an incredible writer, with a blog of her own coming soon (you won't wanna miss her writing and all she has to share) so keep reading to hear what the Lord was teaching and telling my Mom throughout this waiting period.

…… July 11, 2012… I jumped in
the car to go to work, nothing special, just like every normal other normal
day. As I drove to work, I heard God say to me, “Becky, why don’t you fast your
lunch this week, and pray for Bethany’s job, or should I say “jobless”
situation.Ok, I thought, Yeah I can do that uh…. I’ve
never really tried fasting, but yeah, I’ll try it. (Knowing that it wouldn’t
kill me for a week, I mean it was one meal a day, how hard could it be.)

So lunchtime came and I grabbed the bible that I
had stowed away in a drawer in my office, drove to a quiet, “off the beaten
track” kinda place and turned the car off. I began to pray for… well, for
Bethany to get the job… that she wanted, needed, desired, and in my humble
opinion, Deserved!

Let me rewind this novel for just a minute and
paint a backdrop for you, to better explain where we’ve been in these past 5
months.

In February I received a phone call from
Nashville, “Hello mom, I have decided I would like to go to grad school to be a
nurse practitioner. I want to go to UCF and it’s part time, and most of it’s
online so I could work and get my Masters as well.” “Ok Bethany, that’s an
amazing idea. What all will you need to do for that to be a possibility?”

Here’s the way it worked.

Bethany had exactly 2 months to get her
application in, including:recommendation letters from her clinical
instructors, complete an essay as to why she wanted to go to grad school, not
to mention the Infamous Dreaded GRE test. (I still get cold chills when I think about
how horrible that test is.)

My prayers went something like this….” God if
you want Bethany in grad school, there are a whole lot of doors that need to
open, and a bunch of cards that will need to stack up to make this happen, (and did I mention that we were able to attend a meeting that she just happen to
be home for on the weekend of my birthday, coincidence ???? I think not.) We
found out that about 100 people apply and only 40 get accepted.So yeah …”God? If you want this to happen, you
will have to work some magic, but that’s what you do when it’s your will, so we’ll
trust you to work in this situation and except whatever is best for Bethany’s
life. You know her future and love her even more that I do.”

In March she took her GRE and passed it! I still
smile and shake my head in disbelief over that one.

In April we found out that Bethany had been
accepted to the DNP Program and if she so desires can even get her Doctorate
before she graduates. This meant she would come home after graduation and
passing her state boards and in August 2012 she would begin grad school.

Just a side note.

Have you ever prayed for things that you thought
could be a roadblock and sure enough God answered those prayers and the
roadblocks disappeared …. and then without warning you see a dead end sign with
a cliff at the end of the sign that you didn’t see coming, much less ever
thought that you should pray about it? Yeah me too.

I mean really? She’s going to grad school, she
passed her state boards, she’s at home and everything is as it should be, what
else is there?

A job?

Of course she will get a nursing job, I mean
there are ads all over the Internet for nurses in Vero Beach! Why wouldn’t she
get a job? You mean that could be a problem? Really????

Now God was going to have a chance to teach or
should I say reteach me toTrust!Oh how I hate this road.Yes I’ve been down it before and I think I can
even see my own footprints, why haven’t I learned this lesson well enough that
I must learn it again?

Now this is really where the story, (at least
the part that I really learned a lesson from) begins.

Bethany arrived home on June 18th and remained
jobless ( after applying literally 10+ places, and having 2 interviews with NO
callbacks.)

As I sat in the car (on July 11th) praying,
pleading, questioning, arguing, and yes maybe even a tiny bit, well I was
really aggravated, I took my bible and said, “ I don’t even know what to read,
God please just give me something. “ I opened my bible (which happens to be the
bible I gave my mom 1 year before she died I gave it to her on Mother’s Day and
it’s a Women’s Devotional Bible. )I opened it to a devotional entitled “Dare to
Begin”

The scripture was Isaiah 63: 7-9 and I read the
scripture before reading the devotional. I wasn’t extremely impressed with what
the scripture said, nothing earth shattering or life changing and I said “yeah
ok.” Then as clear as a bell God said to me,“ Read the devotional.”

I began to read the devotional and could not
believe what I was reading. When I got to the bottom of the page, I knew that
the last 3-4 lines sounded vaguely familiar. Not only did it speak directly to
the situation that Bethany was in, it was a part of a book called “Hinds Feet
on High Places, “ that my mother had quoted to me when I was young. She had
read the book and had quoted parts of it to me about the character “Much-Afraid.”

I remember it like it was yesterday.

She talked about how so many times in her life
when she had questions of what to do, or where to turn, and she would refer
back to “Much Afraid” as she said it so reminded her of herself and some of her
fears.She talked about how God had spoke to her
through this brilliantly written book .

There it was in black and white.

As if it had been placed there again to remind
me, that the same God that my mother expressed her fears to, and taught me
about, was revealing His love and His promise to me to give to my daughter.

As I finished the devotional I sat in the car
knowing that God had met with me and had given me a promise for Bethany and the
job searching process.I didn’t know when or where, but I knew a job
would come and that some valuable lessons would be gained in the process.

I wiped the tears from eyes, asked God to
forgive me for questioning His perfect timetable, and knew beyond a shadow of a
doubt that at the right place and in the right time, a job would come, but more
importantly I would share this precious promise with Bethany.

The day before my mom left for vacation, she opened up and shared what she had read in the bible on July 11th to me. I was somewhat curious as to why she hadn't shared this with me before, but it came at the perfect time. I felt so discouraged this day, but that was just what I needed.

In all honesty, I'm not quite sure what I thought about all that my mom just shared with you. I felt peace as I selfishly thought ' at least God was speaking to one of us.' The 12 days that my parents were on vacation were long days and I found myself reading this story over and over and over, reminding myself that God is true to His promises. I was waiting for a call back from a hospital, I was waiting on another call back from a doctor's office, and I had another interview that week with a result that said it would be a month before I knew a yes or no.

And so the journey continued. Frustrated and discouraged don't really describe what I felt like as the weeks were flying by and yet it felt like nothing changed. My prayers felt desperate and I was running out of words. As I continued to just keep reading this story and really try with all of my heart to believe that in His time He would open the door, little did I know that God's promise for me was about to be revealed to me.

To make a really long story short, I had a close friend ask me to fill out an application for Indian River Estates new million dollar medical facility. Somewhat interesting as I had worked in the medical building as a CNA in High School. I had thought about this before, and after my mom inquired with her co-worker, we found out that there were no openings available. The day that my friend was going to drop off my resume, the director approached my mom and told her to have me turn in my resume as there was a position available. In less than 24 hours I received a call, had an interview, and 48 hours later received a call that said they wanted to offer me the job. It still seems so surreal as I have officially gotten my first "big girl job" as I like to call it. Not only that but the money is better than I ever could have hoped for and I get to schedule my hours pretty close to how I would like, which is great considering I am starting graduate school in two weeks. I feel so incredibly blessed and I smile thinking that I was working here with the residents before I left for college and little did I know that 5 years later the Lord would open the door for me to work at such a great place with great people.

I am not sure the exact day I begin, but I'm sure there will be blogs to follow about my first experiences as a new nurse. It's somewhat scary that I will be on my own but I have to remind myself that I have worked hard to get here and that the Lord has gone before me and brought me exactly where I need to be.

Like I said, I'm not sure I believe I'm about to start my first job, or graduate school, but how exciting it is. I never would have thought in a million years that this is where the Lord would have me, but now that I know where I'm supposed to be, I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. I feel so blessed and undeserving of the opportunities in front of me, but I am thankful the Lord has entrusted me with this responsibility.

Like the story said, and the words in the Bible say over and over, the Lord really is true to His promises and He really has given me the desires of my heart.

I want to say thank you to all of you who have fervently prayed for me during this waiting period. I couldn't have done this without your prayers. A special thanks goes out to my parents who have prayed harder for me than anyone and who are cheering me on as I begin my first real job and continue on with school. And last but not least to my other half, Andrew, thank you for your listening ears, your encouragement, and your belief in me during this waiting time. I know these have been hard days and most weren't the most fun, but your love and belief in me is something I cannot say thank you enough for.

I challenge you no matter where you find yourself to believe in God's promises even when the waiting seems as though it will never end.

I pray that as I am beginning a new season of life that I will not forget the long days I just endured. May my faith continue to grow as God is revealing new pieces of His plan in my life daily.

Bethany, this is beautiful. I remember, also, the times that your grandmother/my wife used the story of "much afraid" to keep me on track as I encountered problems in my ministry. She was my "right arm" in ministry. I will always love her!!!

Now the time has come for you to begin your "big girl" job. Go for it!!!